Following the example of the inestimable Charles Krauthammer, who calculated that President Barack Obama’s $1 million golf trip with Tiger Woods would pay for a full year of White House tours (at $18,000 per week), I decided to calculate the cost of First Lady Michelle Obama’s upcoming Beyoncé/Adele bash in White House Tour units (WHOTs).
Again, 1 WHOT = $18,000 (barring inflation, which may arrive any day now).
As a rough guide to the cost of Michelle’s birthday bash, I used a personal concert that Beyoncé played for the family of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in the bad old days.
Beyoncé took home a cool $1 million (which she later said she donated to Haiti earthquake relief efforts). She also performed with Usher–a double billing that mirrors her upcoming fête for Michelle–so that brings the cost to $2 million.
Add in the fact that White House state dinners cost about $1 million, and that brings the estimated cost of Michelle’s birthday party to about $3 million–166 WHOTS, or over three years’ worth of White House tours.
But wait–there’s more. There are 125 public schools in the District of Columbia. The cost of Michelle’s big shindig would fund a day-long tour for each school for five years, including travel expenses, with enough left over for lunch.
Should the First Lady cancel her extravagant birthday party? For the sake of the children???
Update: Two updates, actually. One: the White House has denied the report. Two: Adele was supposed to have offered to sing for free, so knock $1 million off the cost–only 111 WHOTs!
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